Low-Temperature Selective Growth of Tungsten Oxide Nanowires by Controlled Nanoscale Stress Induction

We report a unique approach for the patterned growth of single-crystalline tungsten oxide (WO(x)) nanowires based on localized stress-induction. Ions implanted into the desired growth area of WO(x) thin films lead to a local increase in the compressive stress, leading to the growth of nanowire at lower temperatures (600 °C vs. 750–900 °C) than for equivalent non-implanted samples. Nanowires were successfully grown on the microscale patterns using wafer-level ion implantation and on the nanometer scale patterns using a focused ion beam (FIB). Experimental results show that nanowire growth is influenced by a number of factors including the dose of the implanted ions and their atomic radius. The implanted-ion-assisted, stress-induced method proposed here for the patterned growth of WO(x) nanowires is simpler than alternative approaches and enhances the compatibility of the process by reducing the growth temperature.